How to Get Rich for INTROVERTS

Author

Ark
November 18, 2024

Unlocking the Entrepreneurial Potential of Introverts: Six Tips for Success

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Today, we are diving into a topic that is a hot take: how to get rich even if you’re an introvert. Most people assume that to have success in entrepreneurship, you need to be loud and social. Psych, get ready, because this is the introvert’s guide to getting rich.

First off, let me tell you a story. It’s South by Southwest, March 10th, 2024. I was invited to speak about the Million Dollar Weekend. So, I’m waiting in this room; there’s 200 people. How would you feel if you’re about to go on stage and there’s 200 people? Most introverts would say that is terrifying; that is a nightmare. It turns out that it’s scary for everyone. But as I got on stage, I’m talking, I’m laughing, we’re joking; we had such an amazing experience, and I loved it. But the moment I left the stage and I was interacting individually, one by one, or when it was so cool, I went and signed autographs for Million Dollar Weekend. That was draining; it was intense. But being an introvert, it’s not black and white. You’re on stage, you’re offstage, you’re talking to a person, and you’re not talking to a person. But there is one thing for sure: it should never be a disadvantage. Being an introvert is actually a superpower.

Today, we’re going to be walking through these six tips that will help you have success and make money as an introvert. Tip one: create your personal rules. These are the rules that you are going to use to protect your time and maximize being an introvert. For instance, Dharmesh Shah, the founder of HubSpot.com and a billionaire, takes no phone calls. Jeff Bezos only does meetings that can’t have more than two pizzas that feed everyone in the room. Warren Buffett sets aside most of the day for reading and thinking. And myself, I don’t take any meetings before noon. I wouldn’t be able to operate AppSumo at 9-figure levels if I didn’t put rules and systems in place that protect me from phone calls, networking events, one-on-one reviews, Zoom meetings, and so forth.

Now, I have three rules that help optimize for being an introvert that I highly recommend you copy. One, as I said, I don’t do meetings before noon. This is my chance to recharge and really think deeply about business and life. It gives me the flexibility to meet with interesting people, go out for a bike ride, or just sip some tea. Two, I schedule breaks. Now, I used to find myself in meetings, then Zoom meetings and meetings, and another meeting, and another meeting, and another meeting. It was draining. Each consecutive meeting was less useful because I was less of a leader than the one before and because my energy was dropping and dropping with no time to recharge. Now, I have 15-minute breaks between every one of my meetings. It’s time to recharge with pinball, a walk, hang out with my wife, or just whatever it is for you to be able to take time for yourself. I take one day off a week. I never work Saturdays, ever. Now, that’s a rule. I don’t check email, YouTube, Slack, Instagram, or any social media. I save the day for spending time with myself, my friends, and my family.

Tip two: find your extroverted partner. Dharmesh Shah, who we were just talking about, is a self-proclaimed mega introvert. He’s the king of all of us. He helped create a $3 billion company, HubSpot.com. Ironically, he is not shy about being shy. It is his superpower. What Dharmesh did is genius. He brought in Brian Halligan as an extroverted co-founder to lead human resources, marketing, performance reviews, speaking, and pretty much all external company-facing activities. Dharmesh recognized his introversion, partnered with an extrovert, and now can more efficiently execute the business tasks that play to his strengths. Extroverts and introverts are often like yin and yang, opposite but compatible when the vision is clear and aligned. Think about this: the Fortune 500 is littered with companies led by introverted and extrovert partners: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak at Apple, Billy Gates and Paul Allen at Microsoft, and me and Chad Boa, the CTO of AppSumo, the introvert-extrovert duo, helped me grow AppSumo.com to the 8-figure revenue company that it is today. When I found Chad, he was the perfect partner. This duo proves to be a profitable relationship time and time again. If it works for Apple, Microsoft, and AppSumo, it’ll work for you.

What’s up, y’all? Our team created a free crash course for introverts. So, these are resources and lessons for your entrepreneurial introversion endeavors. If you want to build an epic network, connect with like-minded people, and have success as an introvert, this is a totally free course that you can get for yourself at noah.com/SLintroverts. Also, the link below is in the description. All right, back to the video.

Tip three: labeling lies. When I was speaking at South by Southwest conference, I asked the crowd, who here is afraid of public speaking? There was one woman in the background who raised her hand. I said, “Miss, what is your name?” She said, “Robin.” So, are you really afraid of public speaking? She said, “Yes.” She said, “Would you like to come on stage and see how you can face that fear today?” I definitely know that she regretted raising her hand. So, I gave her a speech and a microphone and I said, “You can do it.” As she started shaking, she was reading off the speech that I wrote for her. It goes like, “Today, I am facing my fear of public speaking. Wow, this is pretty, pretty cool on stage. This is pretty cool on stage. Maybe the fear was never as bad as it seems and I’m more powerful than I realized.” Doing things in the now empowers us all. Please stand up, put your hands together, and clap for me.

It was a really, really special moment. I told her the fear of public speaking is just a fear of a skill we haven’t tried yet. I said, “Robin, what did you learn about yourself?” She said, “I can actually do public speaking my way and maybe I’m not as afraid as I think.” Now, how this relates to all of us introverts is that calling yourself an introvert and saying you’re afraid of certain things is holding you back from success. I hear so many people daily say, “I am shy; it’s a disadvantage. I am quiet; it’s a disadvantage. I’m an introvert; it’s a disadvantage.” Stop labeling yourself in absolute terms. I’m 100% sure you’ve hung out with friends or been on a message board interacting with people, having a blast. Being shy or quiet doesn’t mean you’re an introvert and being an introvert is not a disadvantage. So, be mindful labeling yourself an introvert and all the negative assumptions that come along with it, like that you maybe couldn’t do public speaking. The most dangerous result of this misconception is that it forces many of us to use introversion as an excuse to avoid these deeper fears, like Robin’s fear of speaking or the fear of asking. Don’t use introversion to avoid asking for the things you want in your life. So, what is an extrovert or an introvert? Just so that we’re on the same page, an extrovert is someone whose social interaction increases their energy level, while an introvert’s social interactions deplete their energy level. Just be mindful when you say you’re an introvert; it doesn’t mean you can’t do things. Just be mindful what labels you’re using on yourself.

Tip four: the introvert is the champion of the internet economy. Now, this might surprise you, but introverts can find it easier to build online businesses, do remote work, and even be more productive in their deep work time. Think about all the people that were imagining being successful in building computer businesses; a lot of them are introverts. Take the facts that being an introvert and frame them into advantage statements. Introverts gain energy from alone time. That means I don’t need an hour-long meeting to make a decision. Introverts feel less compelled to bring other people into their processes and may not need a huge team, a.k.a., a solopreneur, to build a big business. Introverts don’t seek out in-person interactions. I work productively from anywhere, anytime. The internet levels the playing field for all of us. In fact, AppSumo wouldn’t even exist without introverts. AppSumo is all about finding introverts who created awesome software tools that needed a marketing partner. You can build your own multi-million-dollar empire from the comforts of your own couch without ever having to step a foot outside. And I’m not alone. Dan Coe makes $4 million a year with writing and education products from his laptop in Scottsdale, Arizona. Or take Eilo, a 21-year-old kid from Singapore; he makes $1 million a year selling no templates. Brett from Design Joy runs a $2 million-a-year solo design subscription agency. There is an entire wave of solopreneurs who have created a business model that plays perfectly to the strengths of being an introvert. Stop seeing introversion as an obstacle and start seeing it as your superpower.

Tip five: never be an introvert alone. Some of the best places I found for connecting with fellow introverts are Reddit, Twitter, and Indie Hackers. This is introversion 101. It’s a great way to connect with someone personally, talk about business or family, and stay connected when it’s not about jumping on a Zoom call or having to do coffee meetings with people weekly to pick your brain. Let’s take AppSumo and break that down. AppSumo is an introverted community. We go find amazing developers worldwide and then we go be their extroverted promotional partner. Now, for you out there, go find other like-minded introverts to maybe be your customers or support you in your entrepreneurship journey. community compounds income. And what that means is that as you’re starting a business, as we talk about a million-dollar weekend, look for your zones of influence. If you don’t have a large community of people, look on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Look for places where other introverts are hanging out and start interacting with them. They will help you succeed on your business journey.

Now, the sixth and ultimate tip for introverts looking to make money is extroversion as a learnable skill. As an introvert, your biggest advantage is your ability to learn. And thankfully, extroversion is a skill that can be learned like anything else. Talking to strangers, asking for raises, and even public speaking are all things that can be learned. You think that I woke up and I’m really excited to go knock on the doors of rich people and ask them what they do for a living? No. Or ask strangers to go on their private jet or sit across from billionaires and ask them questions about their personal life? No. I get anxiety and I’m nervous every single time we do these videos. And it took years of practice and thousands of reps for this introvert to take those chances and ask for those opportunities. It may come as a surprise to you that many outspoken entrepreneurs are actually introverted and have strengthened their extroverted muscles over time. I asked my friend and the marketing goat, Seth Godin, about what he thought about this topic and he agreed. Seth said, “I think it’s important to get our terms right. Shy, glib, unctuous, reserved, afraid, hustling. In what circumstances? Most successful people I know aren’t as outgoing as the role they play.” Very well said, Seth. Asking is a muscle and for us, it is the most important one to exercise regularly. If you find yourself limited by being an introvert, here are two tips to overcome this fear of asking and improve your outgoingness. Number one: start small. The good news is you don’t need to hop on stage at South by and speak in front of 200 people. Just focus on taking the smallest step possible in the right direction. And I’ve got a challenge for you: the coffee challenge. The next time you’re at a counter ordering coffee or tea or next time you’re buying anything, when it comes time to pay, you’re going to ask for a 10% discount. Let me actually do a role play for you. Hello, good sir. I’d like an orange mocha Frappuccino. Okay, thanks. Let me go get it. Can I have a 10% discount? Uh, no. Alright, thanks; see you later. You’re not going to give any other explanation and just accept the response from the barista. It’s a strange experience, but it’s a zero-risk way of breaking down the mental barriers of asking, the mental fear of rejection, and unlocking the potential of what you can actually do in this world. And that’s all from asking for a discount about coffee. Yes, don’t expect to be perfect at the start. Now, after you get your small start, let’s use the second tip: follow the law of 100.

The law of 100 is the idea that you need to start and finish something 100 times, regardless of the results, before you can measure your success. Now, for you introverts out there, talk to 100 people individually before deciding you’re no good at one-on-one interactions. Ask 100 customers what they would like to see in your product or service before deciding you can’t communicate with that market. Or put out 100 videos on social media to see how it actually feels. I use the law of 100 to help talk to people individually about Million Dollar Weekend. The 100 tries mean you can experiment more, learn from your mistakes, and have a comfortable runway to get better over time. My team actually created a free tool, lawof100.com. Shout out to David Kennedy, and it can help you track your progress as you test the law of 100 in your life. Extroversion is a skill that you can improve as an introvert with time and practice. There is no good reason why being an introvert should be seen as a disadvantage. And now, you have all the tools you need to make money as an introvert. And if you love this video, you’re going to love this video right up here. Why help Jake, who has a normal day job, start his own million-dollar Dollar Weekend business? Uncle Noah loves you, and even your extroverts. And I’ll see you out there. Pew pew!